destiny

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

n. The inevitable or necessary fate to which a particular person or thing is destined; one's lot.

n. A predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power or control: "Marriage and hanging go by destiny” ( Robert Burton).

n. The power or agency thought to predetermine events: Destiny brought them together.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. That to which any person or thing is destined; a predetermined state; a condition foreordained by the Divine or by human will; fate; lot; doom.

n. The fixed order of things; invincible necessity; fate; an irresistible power or agency conceived of as determining the future, whether in general or of an individual.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

n. That to which any person or thing is destined; predetermined state; condition foreordained by the Divine or by human will; fate; lot; doom.

n. The fixed order of things; invincible necessity; fate; a resistless power or agency conceived of as determining the future, whether in general or of an individual.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

n. An irresistible tendency of certain events to come about by force of predetermination, whatever efforts may be made to prevent them; overruling necessity; fate.

n. That which is predetermined and sure to come true.

n. That which is to become of any person or thing in the future; fortune; lot; lack: often in the plural.

n. [capitalized] plural In classical mythology, the Fates or Parcæ; the powers supposed to preside over human life. See fate.

n.Synonyms Destiny, Fate, Doom. Fate is stronger than destiny, and less the appointment of a personal being or other discernible cause; but the words are often used interchangeably. Doom is an unhappy destiny.

After Manchester United were beaten by Chelsea in midweek, victory for Arsenal would have put their title destiny in their own hands but without injured trio Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott they mustered few clear chances despite dominating possession and had to share the points with Sunderland for the second time this season.

All these philosophers believe that the acts of our will and the motion of our bodies depend on those of the stars to which they are subjected, and they refer every thing to the laws of physical necessity, which they call destiny or